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SCREAM IF YOU WANT TO GO FASTER
46
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018 | LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM
Once again, the system immediately
spotted the scam not just as a fraud
but also as a vulnerable process. Such
was the sale of the scam that we had
to close the unit as we had to get rid of
the whole team, which obviously had a
short-term revenue challenge for us."
The common denominator in many
of these scams is the high use of cash, so
under Blethyn's stewardship, Merlin is
currently conducting a trial on cashless
alternatives following a successful pilot
last year at Halloween, one of the group's
busiest periods.
"This year we are trialling the cashless
initiative at a number of our parks and
resorts because of the benefits that we
recognized in terms of reduced physical
risk to staff handling cash and the number
of employee thefts. Early indications
have shown that it has also significantly
reduced our operational costs whilst
adding value to guests through shorter
queues. In fact, we have seen a revenue
increase because people like the speed of
the operation. As far as rolling this out,
we will continue the trial to the end of the
year and then report back to the board,
but it looks extremely positive, so watch
this space.
"You have to be constantly looking
at new ways of doing things to increase
value to the guests and the business. It's
like a roller coaster—it has got to keep
moving to provide the thrill of the ride."
Such use of technology is testament to
Blethyn's tenacity to put the brakes on the
double-digit shrink that was blighting the
business when she joined in 2003.
"The shrink when I joined the business
was between 10 and 13 percent—it was
horrendous. When I joined Tussauds
before the merger with Merlin, there
were five or six different stock and sales
systems across the business, and there
was no regular stocktaking function. The
result of this was that we had no global
picture of stock or accuracy.
"I learned early on that we had to do
it differently and very quickly. I needed to
get everyone on board with a strategy that
works, whereas previously people were
not getting on board the profit protection
train because, for whatever reason, it was
not stopping at their station.
"Now, across the global estate, shrink
is circa 1 percent, but I am lucky in that
profit protection is supported from the
very top of the organization across the
world. This year we invited all our profit
protection partners from all over the
world to a conference at Chessington. The
CEO, the CFO, and three other board
directors attended and addressed the
delegates—there are few businesses that
can say they have that level of buy-in from
the executive team."
Cultural Awareness
The reduction in the shrink figure is
also linked to the knowledge that because
of different cultural and legal frameworks,
a company cannot adopt blanket
technological approaches across the world.
"In Europe there are different
approaches," Blethyn said. "For example,
in Italy there are regulations around the
use of CCTV, and in Germany you have
the works councils, so you have to try
alternative approaches.
"In Italy, we have CCTV in the cash
offices and have successfully communicated
that the cameras are there for their own
protection to prove that they have done
nothing wrong, rather than there being any
room for suspicion. In Japan as well, there
is a strict honor code that impacts upon
the way that you engage with colleagues.
You can never be directly critical, but they
are eager and happy to learn from their
mistakes so that they never happen again.
By making these simple adjustments in
approach, you are more likely to secure
the human engagement that you need to
run your business as all of the territories
and people will be happy to come forward
more often.
"We instill the profit protection
message early as part of the induction, but
trying to train new people on a new park
or resort in a different country about profit
protection can be challenging because
"Now, across the global
estate, shrink is circa
1 percent, but I am lucky
in that profit protection is
supported from the very
top of the organization
across the world."